Forgotten Fridays: The Spin Doctors

Can we be honest with ourselves and admit that the Spin Doctors were killing it back in the early 1990s?

We all know, and are probably sick of, "Two Princes." I somehow got "Jimmy Olsen's Blues" stuck in my head a few weeks ago and threw on their greatest hits compilation (embedded below) and was immediately struck by how solid a lot of those early songs were. Between the three big singles on the first album, Pocket Full of Kryptonite and two massively underrated singles from the follow up, Turn it Upside Down, it's almost too bad that they blew up as quickly as they did. It clearly stunted them in a lot of ways, and that's too bad, because we don't get the same kind of nostalgia trip for them as we do for similarly positioned bands like Toad the Wet Sprocket or the Gin Blossoms.

They still perform and occasionally record today. I'm pretty sure lead singer Chris Barron was involved with The Moldy Peaches for a time, too, which is just...weird. And unexpected. But mostly weird.

Anyway, if you want to flash back a bit, here's their hits collection. I promise you that "Cleopatra's Cat" is better than you remember.

First Listen: New Releases for March 11

Another slowish week allows us to look at some lesser-known stuff.

Elbow - The Take Off and Landing of Everything: If you remember the British indie invasion of the early aughts, you might remember Elbow doing some interesting indie acoustic stuff that flew under the radar while Travis and Doves and Starsailor hit it somewhat big. Their first album really spoke to me on the sort of level that forced me into importing a bunch of stuff from a tiny record shop in England to get the b-sides, but the albums became more progressively rocking and less of a folksy thing. I feel like, on first listen, the new Elbow album comes the closest to restoring the classic sound that got me into them to start. The darkness is still there, mind you, but in terms of songs, there's a lot of memorable stuff for what's a quiet, unassuming, stealthy record. Definitely worth a listen.

Divergent Soundtrack: Movies based off of young adult books have done a decent job over the last few years of getting credible artists involved for their soundtracks. The gold standard, interestingly, were the first two Twilight soundtracks, but the soundtrack for the first Hunger Games film really did a good job of capturing both the mood and the music. Divergent is trying to ride that train hard, and mostly flops. The Ellie Goulding song is okay, the M83 not a standout, and...well, there's just nothing here. It's an eclectic mix with no immediacy (a lot like the book, to be honest). Skip this one.

Hong Hong Kong Kong - Hong Hong Kong Kong EP: Ken wrote about this earlier this week, and while he hears a lot of Jack Drag while I feel like either of the first two songs could end up having that slow burn like "Pumped Up Kicks" did for Foster the People if it gets the right attention. This is a fun, short EP, and if you have any interest in either Jack Drag/The Submarines or interesting indie pop, it's worth a few minutes of your time.

MØ - No Mythologies to Follow: Another week, another European pop album that I'm invariably going to fall in love with. It's no surprise that the Euro pop stars are doing more interesting things musically lately than a lot of stateside electronic acts, and this is a little bit on the darker side if you're into that. It's more Sky Ferriea than Katy B, but it's still worth a look if it's your thing.

September Girls - Cursing the Sea: I loved Bleached's album last year, and I'm still mourning the loss of Vivian Girls but loving the current Dum Dum Girls stuff. It seems like I have a soft spot for dreamy, lo-fi, reverb-heavy girl pop, and September Girls is offering some of the best I've heard. It's the sum of its parts that is great, but if you're looking for a sort of retro sounding thing that will surprise you this week, be sure to look this one up. It's quite good.

Joan as Police Woman - The Classic: I don't know what it is, but I never seem to think of Joan as Police Woman at all when I'm thinking about indie acts. Every time she flies under my radar, and then a new album comes out, and I really like it. In this case, The Classic is a retro-tastic change of pace, sounding straight out of the 1970s in what feels very genuine and endearing. This is one of the more different releases of recent times, so it's definitely something you might want to give a shot.






Also out this week in various forms:

* Steve Martin, The Deep Canyon Rangers, and Edie Brickell - Live

Hong Hong Kong Kong - "Heidi's Moon Stomp"

Yes, Hong Hong Kong Kong is a terrible band name. That's kind of the point. It was chosen to annoy radio djs that had to announce it, if radio djs are even a thing anymore. While writing songs for the upcoming Submarines album, John Dragonetti wrote some that didn't quite fit into the Submarines' sound. As much as I like The Submarines, I was always a bigger fan of his 90s Boston based band Jack Drag, so I was expecting something more along those lines. Hong Hong Kong Kong are closer to Jack Drag than the Submarines are, but it's still got some of the Submarines' dreamy pop sound to it. Dragonetti has described the band as "alien love-pop," and that only makes sense once you listen to their first song, "Heidi's Love Stomp."

You can listen to "Heidi's Love Stomp over at Indie Shuffle. Hong Hong Kong Kong's debut EP comes out March 11. For more information, "like" the band's Facebook page.

David Yow Stars In a New Video for OFF!

Hardcore supergroup OFF! (Keith Morris, Dimitri Coats, Mario Rubalcaba, and Steven Shane McDonald) have a new video for "Hypnotized." The clip stars David Yow of The Jesus Lizard and Scratch Acid as a crack smoking guy in a lousy costume that poses with tourists in Hollywood for cash. He has an altercation with a man dressed in the same superhero costume as him (played by Jack Grisham of T.S.O.L.) and it all goes downhill from there. This all happens while OFF! play in the background.

The new album from OFF!, Wasted Days, is due out April 8 on VICE. You can get some more information, including tour dates, at their official website. To find out what David Yow is up to, such as art and his solo album, head on over to his website.

Current Obsessions - Benjamin Booker

I know virtually nothing about Benjamin Booker. He was one of the first acts announced for this year's Newport Folk Festival, and he seems to have come out of nowhere. When he was announced, he had less than 500 "likes" on Facebook, and two videos on YouTube. I mean, what musician has only two videos on YouTube? Your 14 year old nephew's band has at least a dozen, and they haven't played a show yet. How does someone so virtually unknown get added to one of the most prestigious festivals in the country? By being amazing.

His influences range from Blind Willie Johnson to T. Rex. His sound is like early blues recordings mixed with MC5 and Death. It's one of the most raw and unique sounds I've heard in years while still being straight up rock n' roll. It fits completely into everything you already know and love but mixes it up in a way you've never heard before. At this point, I have no idea when his debut albums comes out, but I need it. Now.

Benjamin Booker is currently on tour with Hurray for the Riff Raff. You can see the tour dates below. Head on over to his page on the ATO Records website for more info, and watch a 3rd YouTube video that just dropped below.

Mar 06             Will's Pub        Orlando, FL

Mar 08            Curtis Hixon Park       Tampa, FL

Mar 12            The Chevrolet Courtyard at Cedar Street       Austin, TX

Apr 03            Mercury Lounge         New York, NY

Apr 05            The Sinclair     Cambridge, MA

Apr 08            World Cafe Live Philadelphia            Philadelphia, PA

Apr 10            Local 506        Chapel Hill, NC

First Listen: New Releases for March 4

After a whirlwind few weeks, it's kind of nice to get a shorter week of releases.

Ásgeir - In the Silence: I admit to having a significant bias toward any Icelandic music available, given my love of both early Bjork and early Sigur Ros. I don't know how I tripped up on Ásgeir, but this album is a gorgeous soundscape. It's really what you might expect a more folky Icelandic artist to sound like with your tinny American ear. It really strikes all the right notes and is definitely my favorite listen of this week. Absolutely worth your time.

Real Estate - Atlas: You know how, sometimes, you get weird associations of bands in your head? Like, you were exposed to a few bands at the same time, or they once had similar songs on the radio and you have just coupled them forever. Real Estate falls into that category with me along with Beach House and Best Coast. Not sure why, as Real Estate (especially Atlas) sounds a lot different than them. Atlas, in particular, has a tendency to sound a lot like the singer-songwritery alt-rock of years ago, and I enjoy that. This is a nice, pleasant, quiet listen for this week.

Drive-By Truckers - English Oceans: I hate to be that guy with this album, but, ultimately, it sounds exactly like what I'd expect from a Drive-By Truckers album today. It's very straightforward country rock, and it does the trick perfectly well. Worth a listen if you're a fan of the band or associated acts.




Also out this week:

* Holly Golightly - All Her Fault

Monday Morning Playlist: Dirty R&B

At some point late last week, I had landed on an article from Medium regarding "Dirty R&B", the lesser-known, somewhat more vulgar side of early-to-mid 1900s blues and jazz music. For as much as many of us grew up with the PMRC and the idea that hair metal or gangsta rap would be the thing to corrupt our impressionable minds, there was some really dirty stuff coming out decades before. Some of it is more veiled, but others don't even try to hide what they're getting at.

The article also shares an article from WFMU in 1997 that lists even more dirty blues and jazz songs, with a little more variety thrown in. Seeing as I enjoyed this (and, truth be told, the music as well) this weekend, I decided to throw together a playlist. You can subscribe to it here or listen to it embedded below:

Highlights from Amazon's March mp3 Sale

Every month, Amazon.com puts 100 albums on sale for $5. These are some of the highlights that may be of interest to readers:

* Arctic Monkeys - AM
* Hospitality - Trouble
* Damien Jurado - Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son
* Mogwai - Rave Tapes
* Passion Pit - Gossamer
* Amos Lee - Mission Bell
* Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs
* White Stripes - Icky Thump
* Hole - Live Through This
* Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself
* The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
* Lily Allen - Alright, Still
* Steve Martin - The Crow
* My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
* Bela Fleck - Live Art
* Tegan and Sara - So Jealous

Listen to MC Chris's Tribute to Harold Ramis

This week's death of Harold Ramis affects just about everyone. There isn't anyone between the ages of 20-60 that hasn't been touched by his work, from National Lampoon's Animal House to Groundhog Day. Nerdcore tapper and animator MC Chris has been working on a Ghostbuster's themed album for the past two years. As a tribute to Ramis, MC Chris posted his song about Ramis's Ghostbusters character, Egon Spengler, to Soundcloud. "58.9" was meant to be a silly song about a fictional character, but has now taken on a meaning that lyrics like "The opposite sex is perplexing but mold I can manage" were never intended do. 

For more information and to preorder MC Chris Foreverrr, go to MC Chris's website. 
Also, go read Harold Ramis's IMDb page and marvel at the movies the man was involved with.
 

First Listen: New Releases for February 25

Some highly anticipated stuff coming out this week. But is it any good...

Beck - Morning Phase: Ken got to listen to an early stream of this, and his thoughts mirror mine: "The last album was a retread. And this is a sequel to Sea Change, like Hangover 2 was a sequel. But at least that movie changed locations." This feels more like the Wake Up, Ron Burgundy! to a proper Anchorman, as it feels like a lot of dull b-sides to an album I didn't care for to start, but the jarring thing for me is that I haven't enjoyed a Beck album in at least 8 years and it just gets more and more tenuous for me. A number of people loved Sea Change, and if you liked that, you might like this too. As for me, this is arguably the most disappointing listen in ages.

St. Vincent - St. Vincent: On the flip-side of things is St. Vincent. Her first album was an instant favorite for me, weird without being inaccessible. Her other efforts left me wanting a lot more - a few good singles here and there, but it never really reached the heights of what I wanted. The David Byrne project was great for reasons I chalked up to Byrne's involvement, but St. Vincent's new release is great. A lot of common musical themes from the Byrne collaboration, for sure, but it ultimately feels like Annie Clark has figured out the right balance that has been lost at times for me with her music. This is a rock-solid album, certainly her best since the debut, and perhaps better than anything she's done on her own so far.

Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron: Schoolboy Q is back with his first album since Habits & Contradictions, a rap album I thoroughly enjoyed. Oxymoron is no Habits, falling into a lot of tropes that his previous work didn't. The best songs are ones like "Collard Greens" and "What They Want," which rely more on the contributions of the guest stars than Schoolboy Q himself. Ultimately a disappointment, but it's something that has a chance to grow on me in the long run.

Neneh Cherry - Blank Project: If you only know Neneh Cherry via "Buffalo Stance," you may be surprised by this, which is actually a lot more like her 1994 collaboration with Youssou N'Dour. It's a somewhat low-key affair where the better songs are toward the end of the album. I was hoping for a little more upbeat, but it's not bad. Will definitely be getting more time.

ceo - Wonderland: I don't know much of anything about ceo except that I heard the lead track from this a while ago, "Whorehouse," and it's been stuck in my head for a while. It's slightly different electronic music, has a bit of a twist to it, so it remains interesting in ways that, say, last week's Phantogram didn't. Really enjoying this one.

Yellow Ostrich - Cosmos: Yellow Ostrich surprised me with the great The Mistress, a good, current indie rock piece. Cosmos doesn't do a great job on building what they've done over the last few years, but it's still a solid listen that is unlike a lot of music surrounding it. They're on Barsuk, which is probably why there's some comparison to Death Cab to be made, but overall, it's worth a try if you're looking for something off the beaten path.

Death Vessel - Island Interval: I'll be honest: the only reason I looked this up is because Jonsi of Sigur Ros guests on a song. What I didn't expect was that the album would actually give me good memories of Sigur Ros's early work. It's a pleasant, often quiet affair that completely flew under my radar and I hope to keep from flying under your radar as well. You'd be smart to give this a shot even if this sort of deliberative indie rock.